Setting up your computer for

Arabic
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Setting up your computer for Arabic

This booklet aims to support teachers, tutors and network managers in UK educational
institutions to enable an English-language PC to work with Arabic script. Where teachers
and pupils have full access to word-processing facilities, they can begin to integrate
Information and Communications Technology (ICT) effectively into teaching and learning.
You will find information in this booklet under the following headings:

Why should ICT be used to teach and learn Arabic? ............................................. 3

Teaching ideas for Arabic to get you started ......................................................... 4
Some tips for good practice ................................................................................... 6
Which Arabic options are available for Windows 98? ............................................ 7
Step-by-step: Enabling Arabic support on your Windows 98 computer ................ 9
Which Arabic options are available for Windows 2000 and XP? ........................... 11
Step-by-step: Enabling Arabic support on your Windows 2000 computer ........... 12
Step-by-step: Enabling Arabic support on your Windows XP computer ................ 14
Questions to ask when choosing software for Arabic ............................................ 16
Which fonts can I expect to use? ............................................................................ 17
What options do I have for working with the keyboard? ....................................... 18

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Copyright © CILT, the National Centre for Languages and ALL 2005 2
Setting up your computer for Arabic
Why should ICT be used to teach and learn Arabic?
Pupil entitlement
The National Curriculum for England states that
pupils have a statutory entitlement to use ICT in
their learning of Modern Foreign Languages (MFL).
Effective use of ICT can take the quality of learning
to a level above that possible using traditional
resources; it can also improve the efficiency of
current teaching methods. The Becta ImpaCT2
research report published in 2002 found
overwhelming evidence of a positive relationship
between ICT use and educational attainment.
Although the research group of MFL teachers was
too small to be considered statistically significant,
a strong association between higher GCSE grades
and use of ICT was reported, which bodes well for
further investigation into the use of ICT in language
teaching. You can find ImpaCT2 and other ICT
research reports at www.becta.org.uk/research.
Word-processing can be particularly beneficial for
pupils learning Arabic as the need to acquire a new
script can significantly delay the development of
writing skills. When word-processing, pupils can
practise building sentences and paragraphs in the
written form, without laborious handwriting of
characters. They simply need to type (play)
and the word processor will convert it to . It can
be seen that two of the characters ( ) were
modified and the 3rd ( ) remained the same
because of their positions in the word. Furthermore,
being able to produce a piece of written work
quickly and neatly in the early stages of learning a
language can be very important for motivation.
Word-processed rather than handwritten teaching
materials look more professional and can help to
raise the status of a subject in the eyes of pupils,
other teachers and parents. Where pupils are
studying Arabic as a home language, the use of
clearly and professionally presented documentation
can help to enhance communication with parents
and improve their engagement with school life.
Copyright © CILT, the National Centre for Languages and ALL 2005
The ICT curriculum
A further requirement of the National Curriculum is
that pupils should be given opportunities to apply
and develop their knowledge of ICT itself through
their learning of languages. Many schools have
developed their schemes of work for languages to
include learning activities using ICT, which reinforce
(or teach) specific elements of the National
Curriculum for ICT and/or the KS3 Framework for
ICT. For both ICT and MFL, you can find National
Curriculum documentation at www.nc.uk.net/ and
KS3 Framework documentation at
www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/keystage3.
National developments
Schools have an obligation to ensure that teachers
and pupils of all subjects have adequate access to a
range of ICT hardware and software for teaching
and learning, as well as to appropriate training.
Since the creation of the National Grid for Learning
(NGfL) in 1998, the Government has supported the
use of ICT in schools through a number of funded
initiatives such as NOF ICT training (completed in
Dec 2003), Laptops for Teachers, Curriculum
Online, Hands-On Support, Enhancing Subject
Teaching Using ICT and Internet connectivity in all
schools, which is now being upgraded to
broadband. You can find information about these
and other initiatives at
www.teachernet.gov.uk/wholeschool/ictis/.
3
Setting up your computer for Arabic
Teaching ideas for Arabic to get you started
All the following examples relate to pupils working
on a word-processed worksheet on a computer,
where the ICT facilities are exploited to enable
pupils to work in a different way or more efficiently
than if they were working on paper.
i) Pupils can sort words or phrases by dragging
them into different columns of a table. For
example, words can be sorted according to their
meaning, e.g. negative or positive concepts,
food or drink items. Such an activity provides a
useful alternative approach to vocabulary
revision, as well as helping pupils to make
connections between words and improve their
understanding of how a language works.
Negative Positive
Food Drink
concept concept
Plural Feminine Masculine
ii) You can support pupils’ transition from the
spoken to the written word, a much more
complex process in languages such as Arabic
due to the demands of learning a different script.
Pupils can re-order the jumbled-up sentences of
a dialogue, where recognition of every character
is not necessary. Each sentence can also be
hyperlinked to a sound recording of the
utterance, which pupils can click to hear if they
need support. You can create sound files using
simple-to-use software such as Sound Recorder
(which is part of most versions of Microsoft
Windows).
Copyright © CILT, the National Centre for Languages and ALL 2005
iii) Pupils can re-order the lines (not the sentences)
of a text, using the copy and paste function. As
sentences are broken at random points, pupils
need to focus on the grammar of the sentence
to complete the activity, rather than the meaning
of individual words. The problem-solving nature
of the activity makes it particularly appropriate
for pupils working in pairs.
iv) Pupils can develop confidence in working with
longer pieces of text by completing gap-fill
exercises, where they have to delete incorrect
options to create a coherent and accurate text.
As a follow-on task focusing on grammar rather
than meaning, pupils could be asked to change
the subject or verb tense of the text. Such text-
level work can be a stimulating alternative to
traditional grammar practice exercises.
v) You can support pupils to make links between
sounds and the written word, by displaying a
story written in Arabic script on their computer
screens which you then read aloud for them to
follow. However, you change words as you read,
such as verbs, adjectives or the subject. When
pupils hear a word that is different from what is
written, they have to highlight the relevant script
in colour. As a follow-up task for more able
pupils, you can ask them to change the
highlighted words into those you actually said,
using context to help them.
vi) Pupils can be daunted by a writing task as it
requires them to think up what to write,
manipulate vocabulary and grammar and write
in a different script. You can support their initial
attempts at writing by using electronic writing
frames. For example, they can personalise a text
on the favourite sports of an Arabic-speaking
4
Setting up your computer for Arabic

schoolchild, editing key facts to make the content

true for them. Another way of supporting pupils is
to use pictures or symbols to prompt what pupils
should write, which also means that pupils are
not given the answer through multiple choice
questions, nor exposed to too much English.

vii) Pupil work can be stored on your school

network and redrafted at different stages of
pupils’ learning. Initially, pupils may simply
increase the length of their work as they cover
new topic areas, but you can encourage more
sophisticated drafting as time goes on. Pupils
can improve the quality of their work by
expanding the text from within by adding
adjectives and descriptive clauses, for example,
or by introducing more complex verb structures.
These skills are very important in achieving the
Ahmed lives in the countryside
higher grades at GCSE and beyond.

viii) To develop focused writing skills, manipulation of

grammar and awareness of different audiences,
pupils can be given a text to reduce to its core
information. Pupils edit the text, deleting any
superfluous detail and reconstructing its
grammatical structure to produce a coherent,
tightly worded and accurate summary.

ix) Pupils can edit a text to make it suitable for a

different purpose. For example, an account of a
holiday could be developed into a letter to a
pen-friend, with pupils inserting the questions
and personal comments necessary for good
letter-writing.

Once you can create word-processed text, it is

usually possible to import this text (or type
directly) into other applications, such as
presentation software, e.g. Microsoft PowerPoint.
Pupils can use text, images and sound files to Hassan lives in the city
report on project work, to explain a new
grammar point to peers or to give a target
language oral presentation using bullet points
and images as prompts.

Copyright © CILT, the National Centre for Languages and ALL 2005 5
Setting up your computer for Arabic

Some tips for good practice

ICT can be a powerful and effective tool for teaching
and learning, but only when used appropriately.
Here are some tips to help you use ICT to best
effect and to avoid the pitfalls.

• Pupils at the keyboard

ICT is an excellent whole-class teaching tool,
• ‘Add value’ with ICT
ICT should improve an activity, so that pupil
but try to provide plenty of opportunities for learning is supported in new ways which are
pupils to use ICT for learning too. difficult to achieve with pen and paper or
whiteboard. Try to avoid using ICT simply to
• Encourage risk-taking
Pupils should take advantage of on-screen work
make work seem attractive to pupils, the novelty
will wear off!
for trying out new words and language
structures, as electronic text is flexible and can
be easily edited.
• Remember ‘process over product’
ICT can significantly improve and support the
learning process because of the collaboration,
• Avoid copy-typing
Encourage pupils to draft written work directly
reflection and improvements it encourages. It
may not always, therefore, be appropriate to
onto the computer. They tend to ‘switch off’ when
complete a formal assessment of written work
typing up work they have completed on paper,
produced using ICT.
so the time and opportunity of working with
flexible text can be wasted. You may also find
that they make mistakes non-existent in the
• Share and improve resources
Save time by working with colleagues to build up
original draft! teaching materials, which you can share via an
area on your school network. Materials can
• Facilitate collaboration
From time to time, set up drafting tasks in pairs,
easily be adapted for different classes and
sometimes languages. To cater effectively for
where pupils can improve their work by
ability groups, you can differentiate resources
discussing content, choice of language and
according to the length or nature of a task, or by
points of accuracy. Learning through ‘talk’ is very
the level of support available within the
powerful.
worksheet.

• Support different learning styles

Much word-processing software offers features
as such font colour, inserting pictures, text you
can drag and drop, and clickable sound files. You
can exploit such facilities to support pupils who
learn in different ways, such as those who tend
towards visual, kinaesthetic and auditory
learning styles.

Copyright © CILT, the National Centre for Languages and ALL 2005 6
Setting up your computer for Arabic
Which Arabic options are available for Windows 98?
There are a number of software solutions you may
wish to consider for setting up your English
language Windows 98 computer and/or network to
cope with Arabic, as detailed below. Contact the
manufacturer or your supplier for more information
on individual software titles.
Multi-language software programs
If other non-Roman script languages are taught in
your institution or in your LEA, a multi-language
software program may be a high-quality, easy-to-use
and economical solution. Such a program can be
installed to enable the use of over 100 languages,
with similar methods of use for each language.
Discount licences are sometimes available for
groups of schools or an LEA. A couple of such titles
are:
• Global Office
This is an add-on to Microsoft Office, enabling
the use of Word, Excel and PowerPoint in more
than 100 languages. It is very easy to learn and
use, although some people find it difficult when
working with right-to-left script languages. The
Arabic keyboard layouts and fonts are the same
as the stand-alone word processor Global Writer
(see below) and it is compatible with Office 97,
2000 and XP. Global Suite is Global Office and
Global Writer in a combined pack.
• Global Writer
This simple multilingual word processor is very
easy to use, but has limited page design
features – for example, borders, pictures or
multiple columns cannot be included in
documents. The Arabic keyboard layout options
are ‘Windows’, ‘Phonetic’ and ‘VOA’ and there
are two Arabic fonts available. The keyboard can
be displayed on screen, allowing the user to
type either from the physical keyboard or by
clicking the mouse on the on-screen display.
Copyright © CILT, the National Centre for Languages and ALL 2005
Freeware for Arabic
• London Metropolitan University Arabic
text editor
This Arabic text editor does not require any
adaptation of the operating system to type
Arabic, whether it be Windows 98, 2000 or XP.
The software displays the keyboard layout on
screen, so you do not need Arabic characters
on your keyboard. It is a simple program and,
although font size can be changed, more
sophisticated formatting such as changing the
font itself or making text bold is not possible. An
advantage is that the software can easily be
distributed to pupils for simple writing tasks at
home. It is free to download at
http://languages.londonmet.ac.uk/
community/.
Arabic-specific dedicated software
programs
• InPage Arabic-Farsi
This is an Urdu word-processor and desktop
publishing package which also supports Arabic
(plus Farsi, Pushto and Kurdish). It has 60
Arabic fonts (plus five Islamic symbol fonts),
there are eleven keyboard layouts, including
Phonetic, and up to eight user-defined layouts
can be created. If you do not need Urdu, there is
a separate Arabic-Farsi version without Urdu.
Free downloads to support
Microsoft Office
If you are working on a Windows 98 operating
system, you can enable Arabic support for your
Office applications (e.g. Word, PowerPoint, Excel) by
following the instructions on page 9. This will only
work well if your version of Office is 2000 or later,
however. You should also be aware that with
Windows 98, you may not be able to use facilities
such as Copy, Cut or Paste properly with Arabic –
do not be surprised if the text you have copied is
pasted as a set of nonsensical characters. This
issue is resolved in Windows 2000 and later.
7
Setting up your computer for Arabic

StarOffice 7 Suite
• Office 97
None of the Office 97 applications (e.g. Word, This alternative to Microsoft Office comes from Sun
PowerPoint, Excel) will format Arabic properly in Microsystems and can support Arabic along with
any version of Windows; the characters do not many other non-Roman script languages. It seems
appear to join together correctly. that the software mixes Arabic and English text on
the same line in a particularly intuitive way. Star
• Office 2000 and XP
All Office 2000 and XP applications work well
Writer, which is part of the StarOffice suite can be
downloaded free for educational use. You will find
with Arabic. They have right-to-left capability, more information at www.sun.com/products-n-
automatically joining the letters in the correct solutions/edu/ and www.sun.com/software/
manner, although mixing Arabic and English on star/staroffice/. A useful feature is that it can easily
the same line is more complex. export word-processed documents to PDF format,
which can be read using the free software Adobe
To format your Arabic text from right to left in Word
Reader (available at www.adobe.com/products/
2000 or XP, go to Format, then Paragraph and then
acrobat/readermain.html). Such ‘Portable
Right-to-left. The whole paragraph that is currently
Document Format’ documents can be opened by
being edited will be formatted from right to left.
other users, regardless of whether they have Arabic
Alternatively, you can add options for setting the text software or not.
direction to the Format menu in Word. Go to Tools
and select Customize. Choose the Commands tab
at the top of the dialogue box and Format from the
list of Categories. From the list on the right, drag
the Left-to-right and Right-to-left icons onto
Format and click Close. When you next use the
Format menu in Word, you will notice these extra
items in your menu of options.

Similar arrangements are available for other

Microsoft Office applications, such as PowerPoint
and Excel.

Copyright © CILT, the National Centre for Languages and ALL 2005 8
Setting up your computer for Arabic

Step-by-step: enabling Arabic support on your

Windows 98 computer
You will need Administrative privileges to enable the of the screen, which will enable you to switch
use of Arabic on your computer. This will not be a between English (EN) and Arabic (AR) as the input
problem for your home computer, but will require the language.
intervention of your network manager in an
educational institution.
3
You need to enable your keyboard to
work with Arabic. Go to Start then If Arabic was not available from the list in the Add
Settings then Control Panel and language box, you will need to install Arabic
click on Keyboard. Support from Microsoft. The best way to do this is
to install or upgrade to the latest version of Microsoft
When the Keyboard Properties dialogue
Internet Explorer and specify Arabic support. This is
box appears, select the Language tab at the top of
because Arabic support was not yet developed
the box.
when Windows 98 was first released.

1 Internet Explorer can be downloaded from

www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/ default.mspx.
When you start to install the software, select Install
Minimal, or customize your browser and then in
the Component Options box, select Arabic text
support.

Click on Add. A dialogue box will appear entitled Add

Language. Choose Arabic and click OK. This will
return you to the Keyboard Properties dialogue box.

Before you click OK again, make sure that Enable

Indicator on Taskbar is selected. This will place an
icon on the taskbar in the bottom right-hand corner

Copyright © CILT, the National Centre for Languages and ALL 2005 9
Setting up your computer for Arabic

Once you have Arabic support installed on your

computer, you can return to the instructions at the
start of this page to enable your keyboard to work
with Arabic. When you have enabled your keyboard
as above, you will find that you can type in Arabic in
Word and other Microsoft applications such as
PowerPoint, but you may still not be able to use the
Copy, Cut or Paste facility properly for Arabic.

Copyright © CILT, the National Centre for Languages and ALL 2005 10
Which Arabic options are available for
Windows 2000 and XP
Multi-language software programs
• Global Office (see Page 7)

• Global Writer (see Page 7)

Freeware for Arabic

• London Metropolitan University Arabic text editor
(see Page 7)

Arabic-specific dedicated software

programs
• InPage Arabic-Farsi (see Page 7)

Free downloads to support Microsoft

Office
• Office 2000 and Office XP

If you are working on a Windows 2000 or XP

operating system, you can enable Arabic support for
your Office applications (e.g. Word, PowerPoint,
Excel) by following the instructions on pages 9 and
10. This will only work well if your version of Office is
2000 or XP. Unlike Windows 98, you can expect
most functions to work properly on a Windows 2000
or XP operating system.

Other software
• StarOffice 7 Suite (see Page 8)

Copyright © CILT, the National Centre for Languages and ALL 2005 11
Setting up your computer for Arabic

Step-by-step: enabling Arabic support on your

Windows 2000 computer
You will need Administrative privileges to enable the
use of Arabic on your computer. This will not be a 2
problem for your home computer, but will probably
require the intervention of your network manager in
an educational institution.

Go to Start then Settings then Control Panel and

double-click on Regional Options.

When the necessary changes have been made and

you have finished with the CD, select the Input
Locales tab at the top of the box.

Now you need to add Arabic as an input language

before your computer will accept typing in Arabic.

Click on Add. A dialogue box will appear entitled

When the Regional Options dialogue box appears,
select the General tab at the top of the box and
then select Arabic from the list under Language
settings for the system. If the files necessary for
Arabic are not already installed, you will be asked to
insert the Windows 2000 CD, which will allow you to
install the missing files – simply follow the
instructions which will come up automatically.
Add Input Language. Choose Arabic for Input
Language (it does not greatly matter which country
you choose; the most common choice is Saudi
Arabia.) Choose Arabic (101) for Keyboard
Layout/IME and press OK.
3

Copyright © CILT, the National Centre for Languages and ALL 2005 12
Setting up your computer for Arabic

Click OK to exit all the dialogue boxes you have

open. You should then see a language indicator in
the System Tray (usually located in the bottom right
hand corner of your screen.) It is marked EN in the
illustration below; simply click on it to bring up the
choice of available keyboard languages and select
the option AR when you want to type Arabic in a
document.

Copyright © CILT, the National Centre for Languages and ALL 2005 13
Setting up your computer for Arabic

Step-by-step: Enabling Arabic support on your

Windows XP computer
You will need Administrative privileges to enable the
use of Arabic on your computer. This will not be a 2
problem for your home computer, but will require the
intervention of your network manager in an
educational institution.

Go to Start then Settings then

Control Panel and double-click on
Regional and Language Options.

When the Regional and Language

Options dialogue box appears, select the
Languages tab at the top of the box and then select
Install files for complex script and right-to-left
languages. If the files necessary for Arabic are not
already installed, you will be asked to insert the
Windows XP CD, which will allow you to install the
missing files – simply follow the instructions which
will come up automatically. When the necessary
changes have been made and you have finished Now you need to add Arabic as an input language
with the CD, press the Details … button. A new before your computer will accept typing in Arabic.
dialogue box will appear entitled Text Services and
In the Text Services and Input Languages box, press
Input Languages.
the Add button. A box appears entitled Add Input
Language. Choose Arabic for Input Language, it
1 does not greatly matter which country you choose, the
most common choice is Saudi Arabia. Choose Arabic
(101) for Keyboard Layout/IME and press OK.

Back in the Text Services and Input Languages

box, you need to specify where you want your
Language Bar to be, which will allow you to switch
between typing in English and Arabic. Click on
Language Bar and a dialogue box will appear
entitled Language Bar Settings.

Copyright © CILT, the National Centre for Languages and ALL 2005 14
Setting up your computer for Arabic

Select Show the Language bar on the desktop

and click OK. Click OK to exit all the dialogue boxes
you have opened.

The Language Bar will appear somewhere on your

desktop and you can move it to where you find it
most convenient (probably the System Tray located
in the bottom right hand corner of your screen.)
When you want to input Arabic in a document, you
simply need to click on EN (for English) to bring up
the option AR (for Arabic.)

5
Whichever you select, the keyboard will insert the
characters of that language.

Copyright © CILT, the National Centre for Languages and ALL 2005 15
Setting up your computer for Arabic

Questions to ask when choosing software for Arabic

Which languages are included?
Some software packages support a large range of
languages while others are designed just for Arabic
or for a group of languages using Arabic-based
scripts, e.g. Farsi and Urdu. Multilingual software
can be very good value, but is better at some
languages than others (it is important to check how
well it works with right-to-left scripts). Check whether
the other languages you need are included and
whether they work in the way you want them to, for
example, are the fonts and the scripts the correct
ones for your purposes?
Keyboards
Which keyboard layouts are included with the
software? Are these easy to use and how long will
they take to learn? Do the Arabic keys relate to the
English keyboard (phonetic layout) or are they
completely different? Is it possible to re-configure
the keyboard layout?
Training & support
How easy will the software be to use and will
training be required? If so, is this available and at
what price?

Compatibility How easy will the software be to install? Most

Which operating system (version of Windows) does
the software work with? If you change to a different
operating system will it still work, or will you have to
pay to upgrade? How much will this be? With
Windows 95 and Windows 98 special Arabic
versions of Windows were required to run some
Arabic software but with Windows 2000 and
Windows XP the English versions of Windows will
work many Arabic applications.
Is the software widely used and will you be able to
swap files with other users? It is relatively easy to
exchange English files, but this is not always the
case in Arabic. Text written in one piece of software
may not be readable in another application, or it
may be difficult to convert (this is less of a problem
than it used to be but is still worth checking as there
are still some non-standard packages available).
software is simple to install on stand-alone PCs but
installing on a network can be more involved – do
you have access to the skills to do this?
Is technical support available and by what means
(phone, e-mail, website)? Is support available in the
UK and does it cost anything?
Cost
Are there special prices for network versions or site
licences? Are these one-off costs or are they
renewable?
How often is the software upgraded and how much
will you have to pay if you want to upgrade to the
latest version? Will you still receive technical
support if you have an old version?

Features
Not all software offers the same level of features, so
you should think about what you will need to do with
the software when considering the options available.
For example, do you need to design pages with a
complex layout? Do you want to create
presentations using Microsoft PowerPoint? If you
need to write in more than one language (e.g.
Arabic and English), is it easy to swap between
them?

Copyright © CILT, the National Centre for Languages and ALL 2005 16
Setting up your computer for Arabic

Which fonts can I expect to use?

A font is graphic design applied to a collection of Installing a new font
numbers, symbols, and characters. A font describes
1) Go to Start then Settings then Control Panel
a certain typeface, along with other qualities such
and double-click on Fonts.
as size and spacing.
2) Go to the File menu and select Install New
Alternatively, there is an international system called
Font. A dialogue box will appear.
"Unicode" which gives a specific number to most of
the characters in most of the world's languages. As 3) In the list of Folders before you, double-click on
long as your computer has a "Unicode" font the folder that contains the fonts you want to
installed, it will display the correct character when add.
the keyboard has been activated for the language
4) A List of fonts will appear; click on the font you
concerned.
want to add, and then click OK.

5) If you wish to replace an existing font with a

later version of the same font, you must first
delete the old version. Having opened Fonts in
the manner described in 1 above, click on the
font you wish to remove to highlight it. Then go
to the File menu and select Delete. You can now
install the newer version as described above.

6) The fonts available on a computer are stored in

their own directory, which can be accessed via
the control panel as described above.

Unicode fonts come as standard with Windows 2000

and XP, but may need to be downloaded for
Windows 98.

www.alanwood.net/unicode/fonts.html is a useful
source of information on the Unicode system and
contains a comprehensive list of sources for
downloading fonts.

Copyright © CILT, the National Centre for Languages and ALL 2005 17
Setting up your computer for Arabic

What options do I have for working with the keyboard?

1) Dedicated keyboards If you don’t want stickers permanently on the
keyboard you can affix them to a keyboard “glove,”
Arabic keyboards tend to use the standard Saudi
which is a moulded transparent plastic cover, usually
Arabian layout, which does not relate to the keys on
fastened with velcro. These cost around £25 + VAT.
an English keyboard. They are expensive in
comparison to English keyboards (around £40 +
VAT) but are cheaper in batches of ten. There is the 3) On-screen keyboard display
choice of a PS2 (round plug) or USB (rectangular Some software allows the option of an on-screen
plug) connection to your computer, though USB may keyboard display. This can be used for reference,
be more expensive. It is very important to check that avoiding the need for pupils to keep looking across
the keyboard you are purchasing matches the layout to a separate printed sheet. In some software, it is
used in your Arabic software (or the layout you want possible to type by clicking on the on-screen
to use). keyboard with your mouse, but this is very slow for
all but the shortest texts.
2) Keytop stickers
These are transparent to allow the English 4) Printed keyboard chart
characters to remain visible. They can be fiddly and Some software packages are supplied with a printed
a little time-consuming to apply but once attached keyboard chart or will allow you to print your own.
are very secure. The stickers are quite durable with
printing on the underside so it does not wear off
with use. Some sets have extra stickers to allow for
alternative keyboard layouts. They are usually
supplied with blue printing (for standard buff-
coloured keyboards) or with white printing for
laptops and other black keyboards. Typical price is
around £12 + VAT per set.

This overlay is also

available in white
characters on clear
stickers for laptops and
black keyboards.

Copyright © CILT, the National Centre for Languages and ALL 2005 18
 languages ICT
This booklet has been produced as part of the
Languages ICT project from CILT, the National
Centre for Languages and the Association for
Language Learning (ALL). Visit the Languages ICT
website for more information and resources:
www.languages-ict.org.uk.

Information in this booklet has been collated by a

number of practising teachers and advisers and is
accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of
writing. CILT and ALL do not take any responsibility
for inaccuracies contained within. The inclusion of
any software products and/or companies within this
document does not imply endorsement by CILT or
ALL in any way.